Melbourne Storm 2010 Season Preview

2009 could not have been a better year for the Melbourne Storm. Reaching the Grand Final for the 4th year in succession and winning it for the second time, their play was sometimes regarded as boring. But when it counted on Grand Final day, they put in a stellar performance to shut down a red hot Parramatta outfit.

2010 shapes as somewhat of an interesting year for the boys from Victoria. The club farewelled one of their greatest players in the history of the club - Dallas Johnson, and also bid farewell to promising youngsters Will Chambers and the exciting Joseph Tomane.

On the staffing front there have been also been two major changes for the Storm in 2010. Within the administration of the club, CEO Brian Waldron has switched codes to take on the Melbourne Rebels job, while on the coaching front long-time assistant head coach Michael McGuire has left for greener pastures to take up a role as head coach with the Wigan Warriors in England. But the significant factor that has not changed however, is the stability with head coach Craig Bellamy.

Bellamy has once again proven that he is fantastic at identifying talent to replace those lost due to salary cap by purchasing the likes of Sione (John) Kite, Todd Lowrie, Luke MacDougall and Chase Stanley for the 2010 season, along with promoting promising youngsters in Aiden Tolman and Matt Duffie.

The 2010 season will likely start slow for the Storm while players regain peak fitness, however, once they are firing on all cylinders you can count on the combination of Bellamy and the Melbourne Storm being in the finals mix once again in 2010.

Player to watch: Kevin Proctor
After showing glimpses of potential in 2009 , the 2010 season is set to be a huge year for the "Proctologist". He is already a cult figure in Melbourne being labelled the new sideshow Bob (due to his tremendous haircut), however his talent more than warrants the reputation he has been gaining. Proctor is a tough, hard-nosed second-rower who has great vision within the game. He will most definitely be in the mix for a starting position at some point this season. Look for him to be an even more apparent fixture in the Storm line up now Bellamy